Saving a Hero
by hazydaze
Summary: Lois Lane embarks on a journey to save Clark Kent and recieves more than she ever expected. Some spoilers for 8x01. Clois.


Disclaimer: All rights and ownership belong to DC Comics/The CW; anyone but me really.  
Summary: Lois Lane embarks on a journey to save Clark Kent and recieves more than she ever expected.

Author Notes: My highest praise and thanks to Trisha and Rachel (At DI) for everything they did and they did a lot. Betaing, hand holding, generally sorting of my mess. I am eternally grateful. Written for the Summer Challenge over at Divine Intervention

Some spoilers for 8x01.

SSS

Chapter 1

Lois blinked as her eyes adjusted to the glittering surroundings. Standing on one of the many platforms in the icy structure, Lois couldn't believe her eyes. It was like her near death experience all over again, the warm light bathed and glowed through the undercutting and crossing crystal beams.

"Hello?"

_The previous day… _

Frowning, Lois tapped her pencil on her notepad as she watched the pictures flashing up on the screen. All the images were of satellite surveillance tracking Lex Luthor's quest in the arctic, since he had disappeared well over 3 months ago. There was still no legitimate evidence of his life or his death. Lois had made it her mission to find out what had happened to him because she sure as hell couldn't find out what happened to Clark.

With Chloe being held over security breaches she wouldn't account for, Lois was desperate for someone to turn to. She had expected Clark to be standing in her doorway asking her if she was okay but he wasn't. No one had seen him since Lex disappeared. Therefore making them connected, or that's what new top dog Tess Mercer thought, and she had no problem sharing that fact…on a phone call Lois overheard.

Lois glared in the direction of the stairs that lead to Tess' office as if the other woman could see her. Tess was the new Lex, only with higher heels and more hair. She had also caught Lois breaking into Lex's mansion for more information on both his and Clark's disappearances.

It wasn't that Lois denied the connection, she just didn't want Tess to be right. Disturbingly, Lex had kept a file on Clark in his desk, it was old, looking like it had been amassing over the years. For all his bull that he had given up on Clark, it was obvious he hadn't.

"Miss Lane?" Tess asked sweetly.

"Hmm? Yeah?" Lois flicked off the computer and righted herself in her chair.

Tess raised her eyebrows, "I have a story on local produce if you want it."

_What I want is to shove my foot up your…_ "Sure. I'll have copy in a few days." Lois smiled just as pleasantly.

"Any luck in finding your friend? Clark?" Tess flipped her hand as if it was an offhanded comment.

Lois kept her smile plastered to her face, "I'm sure something will turn up. It's not like Clark is the master of disguise."

Tess raised an eyebrow.

"Really? I would have…"

"What?" Lois' eyes narrowed, daring the other woman to say something bad about Clark.

"It's just… people aren't really who they seem." Tess said cryptically.

Lois shrugged, "Well I'm 100 upfront. Speaking of, I have a story to write so…"

Tess nodded, unhappy to have Lois shooing her away so easily but neither one was in the other's favour so she wouldn't push it. Turning on her heel, she gave Lois an insufferable wave before returning to her office.

Lois scowled and angrily picked up her pencil when Jimmy Olsen appeared next to Lois' desk, "Wow, I thought someone was going to have to get between those sharpened claws."

"Yeah well, she got on my bad side." Lois said quickly.

"What, when she caught you breaking in to Luthor's mansion?" Jimmy looked at Lois' darkening mood and wish he hadn't said it.

"She's digging for stuff on Clark. She thinks he's part of Lex's disappearance." Lois sighed and Jimmy sat awkwardly on Lois' desk.

"Well…" Jimmy shrugged.

Lois tilted her head, shocked. "Jimmy! I know your relationship with Clark consists of hello and goodbye…"

Jimmy raised his hands in a peaceful gesture. "No! Lois, I mean… I'm just saying from Tess' point of view Clark and Lex had been fighting for years and they both disappear at the same time?"

"Yeah well, why does it have to be Clark? What if Lex did something to him? He is the King of Evil that murdered his own father." Lois folded her arms and frowned again. "What are you doing on my desk Jimmy?"

"Oh yeah, I just wanted to show you this." Jimmy held up a little model of what looked like an icy fortress.

"What is it?" Lois asked confused.

"It's what Lex's people built with their satellite pictures." Jimmy smiled triumphantly, "See, this is what Lex was tracking when he took his arctic voyage."

"An ice cube." Lois tried not to smile.

"No, it's the only thing in the arctic that's emitting heat." Jimmy replied as he sat the model down and typed in some numbers into Lois' computer.

"It's a warm ice cube. I don't get it."

Jimmy nodded to the screen, "Well Lex was last seen entering the icy cavern and then…" The heat signature that indicated the structure completely collapsed and disappeared.

"It's gone."

Lois said and Jimmy sat back up on the desk.

"Right. Taking Lex with it; if he was in there." Jimmy said.

"But this doesn't really help us with Clark. No leads, nothing." Lois sighed, "I might drive back to the farm, see if there's anything I can see that might…"

"Lois, you've been to the farm a thousand times since Clark disappeared." Jimmy sighed, he suddenly looked very tired and beyond his years.

"Jimmy, I know I can't help Chloe right now but I know some people who can. Clark on the other hand needs us more. Chloe's strong. She's related to me, right?" Lois smiled and nudged Jimmy's shoulder in the same way she used to with Clark.

Sighing, Lois picked up her files, the model and placed them in her bag for the long drive back to Smallville.

SSS

Pulling up to the farm, Lois felt a wash of sadness at the darkness that the farm emitted now it was empty. As she opened the door, she flicked the lights on. She never realised it, but it was like Clark himself lit up the farm with his warm personality. As soon as she entered the living room there were pictures of Clark and his parents, his goofy smile filling Lois' field of vision.

A cold nose nudged Lois' leg. Smiling Lois bent down and scratched the dog's floppy ears, "Hey, Shelby."

Shelby barked and wagged his tail expectantly, Lois shook her head, "Nope, sorry buddy, still haven't found him." As if he could understand her, the dog dropped his head and looked forlorn. Taken by surprise, Lois sneezed and made them both jump.

"Okay, how about we feed you and me, huh?" Another ear scratch and the dog was practically her shadow until she placed his dish, filled, back on to the floor. Expanding her culinary skills had been hard but Lois could now, quite well, make pasta with tomato sauce. Still, she always over made just in case but usually ended up eating cold the next day for lunch.

"What a sad life I lead." Lois said as she stretched out on the sofa with Shelby standing guard by her feet.

Flicking around on the television, Lois found a channel showing Moulin Rouge. It was an old favourite she had liked to tease Clark with. He was often seen 'misty eyed' at the end. A warm stomach and a comforting presence let Lois drift slowly into sleep.

SSS

Lois suddenly found herself on top of a decorated elephant in a red gown that threatened to cut off her circulation. Turning she heard someone singing, her eyes widened immediately,

"Cl-Clark?"

Dressing in a tux, he looked, well…good. Great even. But he was singing; singing words to her. Out of nowhere, Lois was responding. Clark offered her his hand as she walked towards him. Lois felt her tummy roll with butterflies as Clark fingers brushed hers. His voice was smooth and comforting, like it had always been but now it burnt with a new edge; an edge of attraction. Feeling her body give over to the warm feeling rising in her heart, Lois felt herself belting out the words as Clark pulled her into him.

_We should be lovers,_

We can't do that.

We should be lovers and that's a fact.

No nothing will keep us together

We could steal time for just one day.

We could be heroes forever and ever.

The music drifted and Lois coughed quickly as Clark brushed back her hair from her face. "I know this is my dream and everything so can you -- can you stop?"

Clark smiled and Lois melted a little bit, "No! No…"

"Lois." The way he said it just seemed to pour over Lois' skin. His hand cupped the back of her head, tilting her face up to his, his warm eyes just sucking her in.

"Clark..?"

Like in the movies it happened in slow motion as Clark's lips finally found hers. Lois expected disgust, rage and indignation but instead she wound her arms around his neck and stepped into the circle of his body. A hand stroked her back as the other tangled in her scooped up hair, pulling tendrils down, tickling her neck. A moan escaped Lois' lips as her hand now gripped Clark's shoulder.

_Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place,  
Come what may,  
Come what may,  
I will love you… until my dying day._

SSS

Lois was dragged from her dream by Shelby barking outside in front of the farm. "Shelby? What are you doing?"

Shelby continued to bark as Lois shuffled sleepily out to see what he was doing. The dog was by Lois' car, barking at thin air. Lois sighed as she bent down to grab Shelby's collar, "Well at least you saved me boy. I was having the most disturbing dream."

Shelby bumped noses with Lois who proceeded to sneeze. Blinking, Lois looked up and saw something almost glinting on her car bonnet. Picking it up and examining it, Lois realised it was an octagonal disc. It had funny little symbols on some of it's edges that Lois squinted to see. Quickly she took it inside to get a closer look.

Under the light of the room, Lois ran her fingers over the symbols as if that would somehow tell her what they meant. An icy chill ran down the back of Lois' neck. Turning around, there was no window open so Lois just shrugged.

"Better put a jacket on." Lois mumbled as she slipped her big warm boots that she wore for hiking over her jeans that she slipped into after arriving at the farm. Her warm parka still hung in the Kent's closet from it's last expedition to mountains Clark had attempted.

Eventually he had to cancel for some reason Lois didn't care to ask about.

"Maybe if I did, I'd know how to find him now." Lois sighed, "No use beating the bush… or something."

Picking up the disc again, Lois held on to it with both hands, her fingers touching the symbols. Another ghastly chill flared up until it only got stronger and stronger.

Lois couldn't believe her eyes as she turned around. Unsure what to do or where to look, Lois called, "Hello?"

SSS

Chapter 2

Lois was trying not to freak out. But she was somehow transported from the Kent Farm, Kansas to Ice Palace… Arctic?

Standing in front of what looked like a large boulder with crystal held in small chambers, Lois rubbed her eyes and hoped it was a dream. _Nope, still here…_

"Lois Lane." Someone called.

Lois spun around, but no one was there, "Yes? Is somebody up here?"

"I know not why you have come but I am grateful for it."

"Huh? I'm sorry mister but I'm going to need some face time before…"

"I have no corporeal form but I am Jor-El, son and father of the House-El."

"So you're not a person you're…just a voice?"

"That is correct."

"Oh, well, that's just…dandy." Lois said, not containing her sarcasm, "Well Mr…El. How is it you know my name?"

"I believe you know my son."

"Your son?"

A rumble ran through the structure. Lois grabbed on to the nearest thing which happened to be the large crystal holding boulder. The crystals began to chink as if in soft melody as they hummed and glowed under Lois' palm. Lois jumped back, looking at her hand as if she had been burnt.

"Okay, what was that?"

"It is only you who can bring him home."

"Who? Your son?"

"Yes."

"Well, I really wish I could help…" The light around Lois dimmed as her vision tunnelled and she collapsed on the icy floor.

"For now; you will see."

SSS

Opening her eyes, Lois looked around and to her disappointment she was still in the ice structure. Dressed in a simple white gown, Lois stood up and folded her arms angrily, "I didn't to be taken hostage in the stupid mountainous popsicle but here I am. I didn't ask to be changed into the Virgin Mary but here I am!"

"But I choose her." Lois heard someone say, a man.

Working her way up to the source of the noise, every time Lois' palm touched one of the beams it began to glow and hum. "Sssh! You've gotta stop doing that." Lois warned and naturally the beams began to dull and quieten. For a moment Lois felt sad, then she snapped out of it. _God, I'm feeling sorry for architecture now._

Peering around the side of one of the beams, Lois' eyebrows rose when she took in the appearance of the man. Clad in what looked like primary coloured spandex, a cape billowing proudly behind him in the cold, his chest born a large red and yellow 'S' crest.

"But she is human Kal-El. She cannot bear you children." The voice Lois recognized as Jor-El, replied.

"We can adopt; like my parents did. I love her, I want to marry her." The man turned towards Lois, looking down at her from where she stood. Completely startled, Lois tried to back away but the man offered her a kind smile and his hand.

"Lois."

"Clark?" Lois asked, her tone slightly wondrous as she began to pick out the parts of him in his features.

"I know…seeing me as…me in the suit is a bit of a shock." Clark smiled his goofy smile and Lois returned his smile.

"I guess it's all a bit of a shock…" Lois said, referring to her previous experience with the voice Jor-El. Not to even mention why Clark was wearing a suit that tight.

Clark pulled Lois up to where he stood, in front of the mainframe of the Fortress. "But a good shock; not my boyfriend's an alien, run for your lives shock."

Lois frowned, "What?"

"Lois?" Clark asked, confused.

"Did you just say…?" Lois got out before her mind was shuffled back, her world spinning black before she collapsed again.

SSS

"You're going to give me a migraine." Lois growled as she sat up and brushed the snow off her face.

"Do you see now how you can help my son?"

"Wait… Clark is your son. Clark is the son of a voice in an icicle." Lois felt very woozy all of a sudden.

"The Fortress of Solitude." Jor-El corrected.

"The what of what now?" Lois asked rapidly, "Why are you being so upfront with me anyway…? Oh. It's because you're going to…" Lois gestured beheading with a cut of her finger across her neck.

Lois was pretty sure she heard the Omni-voice sigh. "Okay! No death, check. But why are you being so game?"

"Although it is an important journey, it is not one you will remember."

"So let me get this straight, you kidnap me from my home, bring me to a strange place, tell me my best friend is an alien, also I'm going to be mind wiped after I find him and you want me to be okay with that? Here, let me throw myself off a cliff while I'm at it." Lois practically shouted at the air around her.

"Your dramatics are unnecessary."

"Unnecessary?!" Lois raised her hand, her finger pointing, "Now you listen here…"

SSS

Lois didn't finish her sentence before she was transported face down in a puddle of rain soaked mud. Muttering to herself, "I'm laughing on the inside." She brushed herself down and looked around for any road signs. The only thing around her was some snowy mountains and fields of sparse faded green grass. But there was something that looked like a small hut in the distance. Trudging through the large amounts of mud that seemed to clump around Lois' knees, she finally reached the run down building.

"Hello?" Lois reared back a moment wondering if she was suddenly going to be dragged back to the arctic getaway. A large burling man appeared in the doorway, Lois smiled but it faded when she saw the two guns strapped either side of him.

"Umm, I really didn't need those directions." Lois said quickly as she backed into a wall, or more worryingly a person. Turning around, a muscular bouncer type folded his arms and glared at Lois.

"Look, please I'm just lost."

The first man grunted, "All the way out here? Doubt it."

Lois' eyes widened, "Well where is here?"

"Take her to the boss, Mike." The man said to Lois' new friend as he grabbed her roughly by the arm.

"Let's go."

"Go? So soon? Where?" Lois threw back as she tried to slow their progress.

"You ask a lot of questions." 'Mike' said darkly as he pushed Lois towards a car that appeared behind the cabin.

"Well, I don't take kindly to being kidnapped!" Twice -- in one day, Lois thought as she buckled herself into the seat. Wouldn't be any good if she crashed and burned in a car wreck before she found Clark.

_Do not worry. You are safe._

Lois jumped as she heard Jor-El's voice in her head._What?_

The octagonal disc allows me to communicate with you. 

Lois noticed a heavy weight around her neck, concealed by her jacket and shirt, the metal laid warmly against her chest.

_How? I mean what is this thing?_

It is a key to many doors. Remember that.

The voice became silent as Mike glared at her in his rear-view mirror, "What are you doing back there?"

"Planning my escape." Lois said honestly. Mike just laughed and continued driving.

SSS

Being manhandled out of the car, Lois dug her boots in as hard as she could, only to be rewarded with Mike pulling her over his shoulder in a fireman's carry. Lois kicked and yelled until finally after halfway to their destination, Mike gagged her and tied her hands. Her fight momentarily quashed, Lois sighed and let herself be carried to a dark room that Mike kindly set her down on her feet in.

"I like you girly. You got something; just be careful the boss doesn't notice it too." Mike said kindly before removing Lois' gag.

"Thanks Big Mike." Lois drawled until Mike closed the door on her and her only source of light was a small window that barely allowed her enough air to breathe.

Sighing, Lois slid down to the floor and hugged her knees to her chest. "You better be worth it Clark Kent."

SSS

The morning didn't come quickly enough as Lois stretched her legs out from their position under her. The doors were banged on before being opened, Mike greeted Lois with a courteous nod. Lois returned it as Mike grabbed her bicep again and hauled her down to what would be the mess hall. Rejecting what vaguely looked like porridge for something that wasn't bubbling conspicuously, Lois happily munched on her variety of fruits.

"Jeez you eat a lot girly." Mike said slightly amazed as Lois ate one apple in around 5 bites.

"I was hungry and don't call me girly." Lois peeled a banana as she contemplated Mike and the others in the room. Mike himself was tall, butch, brown hair shaved pretty close to the skin and hard brown eyes glaring at anything that moved.

"Army brat?" Lois fielded as she offered Mike some of her orange. Mike looked at her with a startled expression.

"What?"

"The hair, the face -- the attitude. Army brat?" Lois asked again.

"Yeah, got discharged though." Mike didn't give anymore and Lois didn't ask. Lois popped some of the orange into her mouth as she looked around at the other women in the room. Many of them dressed in skimpy clothes, it was obvious what they were here for.

Lois gulped and Mike noticed. Lois looked at him, "Is that what you meant?"

Mike nodded sadly, "Yeah. That's what I meant."

Around half an hour after they had been brought into the room, the men began herding up the women as a group of men began to pour in to the mess hall. Mike didn't grab Lois' arm as she put her peels in the bin before walking back over to him. On her way back a hand grabbed at her, turning Lois grabbed the guy's wrist and twisted, "Don't."

"Whoa! We've got a live one." The jerk catcalled and the others whistled. Mike stood behind Lois and the guy quietened immediately.

Lois turned again to thank Mike when she saw a tall solitary figure at the other side of the room, tilting her head, Lois asked Mike, "Who's that?"

"Him? No one knows. He doesn't even remember his own name." Mike replied and Lois smiled.

"Clark. Clark…!" Lois walked to where the man was now sitting, he looked up at her with dull green eyes. It was Clark but it wasn't Clark, he was unshaven for a start, his cheeks sallow from tiredness and his body seemed to be unable to support itself.

Laying a comforting hand on his shoulder, Lois called again. "Clark?"

"I'm sorry do I know you?" Clark asked as he turned around to look at Lois.

"Not yet but you will."

SSS

Chapter 3

"I'm sorry…?" Clark's blank expression didn't worry Lois, it was one she had seen many times before. She was pretty sure that Clark was about due for another attack of amnesia. It was like he attracted the strangest things like a magnet, and generally more than once.

_Maybe it's the alien thing,_ Lois mused before she felt another tug on her arm. She turned and glared at Mike.

"Look, your name is Clark. Clark Kent." Lois waited for something to spark but nothing happened. His expression remained slack, as if he was completely disinterested in what she was saying to him.

"Hey, you need to go." Mike told Lois as he tried to grab her at the waist. Not ready to give up on Clark, Lois tried to pull away but Mike had sheer size on Lois.

"Let me go!" Lois struggled as Mike tried to avoid Lois' fist trying to hit him hard enough to let go.

Clark stood up, actually dwarfing Mike, "Maybe you should let her go."

"Can't let the boss see her." A look passed between Mike and Clark which gave Lois enough time to get out of Mike's grip. Grabbing Clark's arm, Lois tried to pull him down to eye level but she couldn't seem to budge him. Slowly, Clark looked down at Lois' fingers.

"What's going on in here?" A sharp foreign voice asked. Mike turned so his back was to Lois, shielding her.

"Nothing, Boss." Mike replied, as a medium sized man in a too expensive suit appeared just inside Lois' field of vision. His hair was a dirty blonde colour, heavy on the dirty, his mouth permanently twisted into a smirk. It gave Lois shudders.

Lois' new friend piped up, "New guy's got a girlfriend."

Mike's hand went up blocking Lois further. "It's nothing, just some girly Todd found wandering around. Brought her here just in case."

"Well, I do like it when we have new…additions to our family." It was as if perversion dripped off every word. "New guy?"

Lois realized he meant Clark, obviously not knowing his name; he didn't have one here. Clark stared back at the man blankly.

"Not yours then? So you won't mind…"

"Hey!" Lois muttered to herself.

"Why don't you introduce yourself to us honey?"

Mike tried to keep Lois behind him but she pushed his arm aside and strode forward. Lois took one proper look at the guy and she was even more disgusted than before.

Arms folded, Lois spoke, "Name's…Lucy."

"Lucy?" Eyes traveled and slathered over her. Lois wanted a shower just being looked at. "You can call me Alex, Lucy."

Russian, Lois noted as her ears picked up his accent. "Fine, Alex. I want to leave. Now."

"I'm sorry Lucy, that's not possible. Now that you've seen what's going on here, you have to stay." Alex's fingers brushed down Lois' bare forearm as she was only wearing her shirt; she'd left her jacket in her cell.

"If I have to stay -- you have to stay away." Lois said, disgustedly, pulling Alex's hand off her arm.

"Excuse me?" Alex's face was angry with embarrassment.

"You heard me. I want your saliva dripping as far away from me as possible." Lois said honestly.

Alex cursed and backhanded Lois across the cheek. Lois let her head snap back before she slammed the heel of her hand into Alex's nose. Clutching his face, Alex groaned and fell to his knee. The inmates, as Lois liked to think of them, cheered and a riot ensued almost immediately separating Alex from Lois. Lois looked around trying to find Clark. She spotted him standing pretty much as close to the wall as physically possible.

"You couldn't leave it alone!" He shouted at her as she approached.

Lois frowned, "What? Leave my friend to rot in this place? No I can't say I could."

Clark threw up his hands angrily, "I'm not your friend. I don't know who that is."

"Well it's someone slightly less pathetic than this." Lois shouted back. "Come on Clark, we need to go."

Lois tried to take Clark's arm but he shook her off, "No."

"Clark, you don't belong here." Lois said, slightly disbelieving.

"Maybe not. But I don't want to go with you." Clark told her, his face madder than she had ever seen it.

"But don't you want to go home?" Lois asked.

Clark's face remained the same, "Not with you."

Lois slapped him clear across his face, Clark's head turning away with the force of it. Lois slapped his arm, punched his shoulder. Clark brought up his hands to protect himself as Lois hit him hard on his neck.

"You completely ungrateful…!" Lois shouted at him, her anger unstoppable. Clark tried to grab Lois' arms but she was having none of it.

Somehow the fighting going on behind them had been subdued and Alex was sporting a bloody lip and a few aches that made his movements slow. His face was even more enraged than Clark's. "Put them in together. Let 'em kill each other."

Mike grabbed Lois at the waist again but she didn't fight him this time. Her anger was completely concentrated on Clark, who was staring at the hallway they would have to walk down.

"I'll take you to girly's room. It'll be safer for her." Mike said to no one but Clark nodded simply.

SSS

Locked up and fuming, Lois stormed over to her jacket, hugging it to her body. Clark looked at her like she had grown a second head, on top of the two she apparently already had.

"What?!" She fumed as Clark sat on the floor on the opposite side of the room.

"Nothing."

Lois agreed, "Fine."

SSS

3 hours, or it could have been three days for all Lois knew, had passed. She was still on her side of the room and Clark was still on his. Lois let her gaze flick back and forth on him, looking at the changes more closely. He was still ridiculously tall but broad shoulders now tapered down into a sleeker, tighter version of the old Clark.

_Must not be eating probably_, Lois mused with a pang of sadness. But most of her shock was centered on his stubbly chin. Previously, Lois had been pretty sure the farm boy couldn't even grow facial hair let alone the shadow he was casting.

Clark looked up at her, the light from her small window glinting in his eyes, "What?"

"You… um, look different." Lois said with a tight smile.

He nodded to show he acknowledged what she had said, "Why? What did I look like before?"

Lois blinked, she hadn't really thought about something like that. Still holding her jacket, Lois looked for her keys. Seeking them out, she finally heard them jangle. Flicking off the fuzzy bobble that Chloe had bought for her as a joke, Lois held the key ring with the photograph of her, Chloe and Clark in.

"That's obviously me and you but that woman is my cousin, Chloe. Your best friend."

Clark's eyes roved the photo, the banner of Happy Birthday Clark stapled up in the background, "So my name really is Clark?"

"Yeah. I'm Lois. My sister is called Lucy."

"Lois…" Clark said, as if he was testing how it rolled of his tongue.

"Lane. Lois Lane. Clark Kent." Lois ventured.

Clark nodded, "Lane and Kent."

"Sounds good to me." Lois smiled hopefully.

"I'm sorry but it doesn't sound like anything to me." Clark told her before retreating back into his silence.

Lois sighed, "Well, you can't remember who you are so no, it's not going to sound familiar but you have to at least try."

"What's the point?" Clark asked, despondently.

"The point is if you don't, you'll die here, as the new guy who didn't care about anything and had nothing to live for."

"That's cheery."

Lois glared. "It's the truth."

"No one here cares about truth." Clark replied, his mood not improved in the least.

Lois wouldn't be swayed. "I do."

Clark looked her straight in the eye, his coldness almost reaching her. "It won't save you."

"But it'll save you." Lois said, and that in itself was a truth worth believing in.

SSS

_Some hours after that…_

Lois had slept on her jacket for a few hours, Clark seemingly had stayed awake through it all. His eyes seemed to be fixated on her.

"What?"

Clark looked at her startled as if he just now realized she was awake. "It's just…"

Lois nodded for him to continue but he sighed. "What is it Clark?"

"That thing. Around your neck." Clark gestured to her chest.

Looking down, Lois fingered the chain that the octagonal disc was on. "It belongs to you."

Taking it off, Lois handed Clark the chain. He took it from her slowly, still wary of her and the disc. Clark's fingers touched it in the same way Lois had done. Lois smiled when Clark did, as if the disc itself had improved his mood dramatically. Slowly, Clark's fingers touched the symbols on the edges. Instantaneously a jolt similar to the one that happened to Lois went through Clark's body. He dropped the disc like it was an iron poker and clutched his hand to his body.

"Clark? Clark!" Lois called as he passed out on the floor. Lois didn't know what to do, so she shouted, "SOMEONE HELP US!"

Clark's body began to writhe, trying to rid itself of his shirt as a light glowed beneath the material. Lois helped pull it up until she saw a glowing figure 8 on Clark's chest. It looked almost exactly the same as the crest 'S' he was wearing when she saw him before.

"What the…?"

Suddenly, Clark's body stopped jerking and he looked like he was sleeping. Lois decided she'd give him an hour before she started screaming bloody murder.

SSS

Lois was holding Clark's hand when he finally came around. He rubbed his eyes with his free hand, his face spoke of his grogginess. Lois expected fireworks; a chorus of 'what did you do to me'. But nothing came.

Clark looked up at her, another version of his confused look peering at her. "I had the strangest dream."

"Yeah?"

"You… you were a sailor and… I…" Clark's mind was obviously trying to piece everything together, but not finding the missing pieces didn't help.

Lois groaned. "Of all the things to remember about me, you remember that?"

"Remember what?"

"The time I gave you a lap dance."

Clark quirked his eyebrow, a small smile playing out on his lips. "You did what?"

"Oh don't worry, it just made up for the day I met you and you were naked as a jaybird." Lois said smugly.

"Naked?" Clark repeated, "…as a jaybird?"

"Yeah, but I guess that gets counted out because of the time you saw me full frontal." Lois said more to herself than anything else. Her mind wandered; so she was unprepared for when Clark leaned up and kissed her. Lois mentally slapped herself as she let herself kiss him back. Let herself be pulled on to his lap and enjoy his kisses.

Pulling away breathless, Lois squeaked, "Umm, yeah!" as she got up and almost ran back to her side of the room.

Clark sighed and looked at Lois, "Do we do that?"

"Do what?"

"Kiss?"

Lois blinked and shook her head, "No. No, we don't."

"Do you wish we did?" Clark asked, his face open and vulnerable.

_Do you wish we did?_

Chapter 4

_Do you wish we did?_

It was like an echo Lois could escape. Her lips tingled with the memory of Clark's kiss but they wouldn't move to form a sentence.

"Are we a couple?"

_Are we a couple?_

"Are we a what?" Lois stuttered.

"Are you going to keep repeating everything I say?" Clark asked.

Lois took a breath and glared, "No, it's just that the thought of us being a couple is a completely…"

Clark cut Lois off, "Not what I would have said."

"Okay, twenty seconds ago you couldn't stand me, what's with the goo-goo eyes now?" Lois folded her arms as Clark stood up, brushing down imaginary dust from his t-shirt.

"Lois…"

"No, no don't do that. Sexy voiced, 'Lois'. I'm not interested." Lois said rapidly, backing away from Clark who was walking towards her. "Clark. Are you listening Clark?"

"No." Clark replied as he pulled Lois to him. Lois brought her hands up to push some distance between their chests. "Did I tell you the other part of my dream?" Lois gulped and shook her head. "It was Valentine's day, you had the most…interesting tattoo."

"Aaah, well I see how that might lead you…" Lois squeaked as Clark pushed a stray hair behind her ear, "…to certain conclusions."

Clark leaned down to kiss Lois again but she almost shouted, "Jeez what did that thing do?"

"It wasn't…" Clark started to squint, like there was something going on behind his eyes. "Ow."

"Ow? I would have gone with oh." Lois threw back but Clark clutched the side of his head and groaned in pain. "Clark, what's wrong?"

"My eyes. My eyes are burning." Clark replied, trying to blink the pain away.

Lois looked around and then at the tiny sink in one of the corners, "The best I've got is some water from that sink." Lois walked over to the sink and went to pour Clark some of the liquid when he shouted. Turning back, Lois' eyes widened as Clark, with two beams coming from his eyes, set fire to the opposing wall.

"What… what?" Clark looked at Lois expectantly but she had no answers.

"Just close your eyes Clark, we'll figure it out." Lois said as she touched her neck, she had put the necklace back on.

Her fingers touched the metal; _Jor-El?_

Yes.

What did you do to Clark?

Do? I do not understand.

Clark is shooting fire from his eyes! Don't tell me you didn't have anything to do with this.

It is our way. It is who he is.

Lois looked at Clark, he sat dejectedly with his back against the wall, eyes screwed shut. Clark Kent naturally shot fire from his eyes. _I can't do this._

Yes, you can.

"Clark." Lois said quietly, sitting down next to him. Gently, Lois rested her hand over Clark's, "Clark, I think this is natural for you."

"How is incinerating things with my eyes normal?"

"Because… because you're an alien." Lois said quietly, "Don't ask me. I don't know any more than that. But you're not from Earth."

_Krypton._ The voice in Lois' head supplied, "Krypton. You're from Krypton."

"What?!" Clark opened his eyes to glare at Lois but reminded himself and shut them again.

Lois touched Clark's cheek, turning his face to hers. "Clark, open your eyes. You not going to incinerate anything."

"How do you know that?" Clark said quietly.

"Because I know you Clark, you're a good man who wouldn't hurt anyone. Trust me, I've seen it." Lois smiled and Clark finally opened his eyes. Almost habitually, Clark leaned forward and gave Lois a soft kiss, more gratitude than anything else.

"You have to stop doing that." Lois said softly.

"Why?" Clark asked, his face mildly confused.

"Because I'm not Lana. I'm not the love of your life."

"I don't know who Lana is but what if you were?" Clark said, confidently, "What if all this time Lois Lane is the one I'm meant to be with?"

"Then the Earth would turn on it's axis and people would be blue." Lois replied chirpily.

Clark ignored what she said and kissed her again, the kind of kiss 'little girls who grow into women still dreaming of the same kiss' want. His hands tangling in her hair, pulling it from it's ponytail and running themselves through the dark fountain.

Lois sighed as Clark bit her lip gently, there was a bang on the metal door, "Time to move girly."

SSS

Dinner was slightly less hectic as most of the men and women came in tired and dirtier looking than before.

"Geez, Smallville what is this place?" Lois whispered to Clark and the two of them and Mike walked down to the mess hall.

"Smallville?" Clark mouthed.

"Nickname." Lois replied just as quietly.

"It's a labor camp. They had us digging something out."

Lois questioned Clark again, "Like what?"

But she was met with silence as a bruised and angry Alex approached them again, "New guy. Lucy."

"Bastard." Lois muttered but was nudged by Clark.

"Lucy, I was wondering…" Alex began but Lois glared so hard he stopped. She wasn't the kind of girl who took a slap to the face and forgot about it.

"Look Boss, I gotta get these two done and dusted right?" Mike said as he pushed Lois towards the canteen area. He whispered low but high enough Lois and Clark could still here, "Then you can have all the fun you want with her."

Clark's passive face curled into a scowl as Lois walked him through the various lines. Lois picked something of substance, what looked reasonably like spaghetti bolognese. If it wasn't so stuck together.

Lois followed Clark as he walked over to a table where three men and a woman sat. Clark gestured for Lois to sit beside him.

The woman was a redhead, tattoos covering most of her arms, "Lucy, right?"

"Word spreads fast." A tall fair haired guy with blue eyes said. The last two men were strong silent types. Dark skin and darker moods, not unlike Clark previously.

"Riana, Dom, Tony and Stone." Clark gestured to the people around the table.

Dom, the blonde, flicked a piece of orange skin off the table, "So Lucy how'd you end up here?"

Riana added, "…and how do you know new guy?"

"Seriously? You all just call him new guy?" Lois asked, slightly disbelieving.

"I call him Stretch." The one they called Stone said, a small smile on his face, "But I'm sure his real name is something better."

Clark smirked slightly, "Clark. Clark Kent."

"Kent." Stone repeated, testing it. "I like it."

Tony just nodded but Riana didn't give up, "So Lucy… still, you and Kent-boy?"

Lois was about to say something when under the table, Clark put his hand on Lois' knee, just letting it rest there. "Clark's a good friend of mine. Known each other for years."

"Friends?" Riana smiled, "Shame, I was wondering what went on under…"

Lois returned her smile, "All true."

"Really."

Clark raised his eyebrows but Dom nudged him under the table, "Girl bonding."

"Something you've never seen up close… along with a woman." Riana threw back at Dom, who smiled at her wickedly.

Clark smiled and whispered in Lois' ear, "Dom's been trying to get Riana to see something in him since she got here about a week ago."

"I remain resistant to Dom's complete and utter lack of charm."

"Well Lucy thinks I'm charming." Dom smiled at Lois and waited for her to back him up.

Lois shrugged, "Sure."

"Better be careful, if Boss is after Lucy." Stone nodded as Alex sat on other side of the room, flanked by cronies, staring at Lois.

"Nah, Luce has it covered, see how she wrecked his face." Riana said as she offered Lois her hand to slap.

"Or improved it." Dom threw in.

Stone shook his head, "All I'm saying is; Lucy you look like a girl I knew once."

Lois frowned, "I do?"

"Yeah, she was the daughter of this General I worked for." Stone's gaze was unwavering but Lois knew exactly what he was talking about. "If the boss found out…"

"Right." Lois agreed. Her body stiffened naturally and Clark noticed, he was looking at her but she didn't look back.

SSS

Back in their cell, Clark was looking at Lois. Lois was ignoring Clark looking at her. "He knew you didn't he?"

"He knew my dad. The General."

"You call your father the General?" Clark asked, bemused.

"Yeah, the man can direct hundred of men in a war but ask him to be a father? Okay displacing. But yes. Three star General, Sam Lane, is my father."

"What about my father? What does he do?"

"Mr Kent? Mr Kent ran the farm before winning the race to become the Senator."

"Ran?" Clark's face fell. "Do all aliens…?"

"Oh. Wait. Mr and Mrs Kent adopted you. Mr Kent died about 3 years ago. Your birth parents…" Lois didn't know about Clark's birth parents because up until a few days ago she had never really wondered or thought about them.

Lois jumped when she heard Jor-El's voice in her head. _We died upon Krypton. We could only save our son._

"Your parents died on Krypton." Lois repeated as Jor-El continued to tell the story that Lois had never really thought about asking to hear.

_The planet was about to implode. The council would not believe my words. They told me if I told anyone, created mass hysteria -- I would be imprisoned. I could not risk it, I could not risk not being able to save you._

Lois repeated the story diligently and held Clark's hand as he could barely dare to hear the words.

_You are our last hope. Our guiding light - our Kal-El._

"I don't believe this. My father tried to save them and they threatened him, made sure he and my mother wouldn't survive." Clark stood, facing the window, staring out at the moon.

"Clark, anyone's parents main priority is to save their children." Lois rested her hand on Clark's arm trying to comfort him.

"…and now what? I'm what?"

_The last son. The last son of Krypton._

Lois didn't repeat that, Clark didn't need to know he was the last of a doomed race. But her silence didn't comfort him either, Clark threw up his hands and hit the wall. Lois jumped back as it shook. Clark looked at his hand, completely unmarked and hit the wall again. Several of the large bricks came away and broke with a thud.

"I'm strong?" Clark asked Lois expectantly.

Lois nodded, "Looks like."

Mike called in to the cell, "What's going on in there?"

Lois blinked and looked at the door being unbolted. Panicking, she grabbed Clark and jumped up, her legs locking around his waist. Clark looked startled for a moment but turned so that Lois' back was covering most of the hole Clark had punched in the wall.

Mike opened the door and his eyebrows rose, "Oh. You two really are…"

"Yeah, we're…very." Lois bit her lip to stop herself from losing it.

"Umm, I'll check on you both…in an hour." Mike nodded his way to the open door before walking through it.

Lois breathed a slight of relief as Clark set her down but he didn't let her go, his hands rested on her waist.

"This could be our time to escape Muscles." Lois smiled, but Clark wasn't smiling, he was staring at his hands around her waist.

"Clark?"

"But what happens when we go back? We just go back to being…" Clark didn't finish his sentence.

"It wasn't so bad. We really were good friends." Lois admitted, but he was right, it wasn't enough. Not with this new version of Clark. _But you won't remember will you._

"I don't want to be your friend Lois."

She couldn't. _Could she?_

Chapter 5

"You're not thinking straight. I'm not thinking straight." Lois said, quickly. Lois could feel Clark's breath on her face, he was so close. _Come on Lane, this is the best you've got?_

Lois shivered as Clark rubbed the back of her neck gently, his other hand brushing her jaw. "Clark…"

Clark nodded as he tilted his head to the side, Lois gave an awkward smile as her eyes started to well up, "I don't want to forget you."

"You're not going to forget me, Lois, I'm right here." Clark replied, a soft smile on his face.

_Yeah, I will, because that was the deal,_ Lois thought angrily, the one I never agreed to. Lois turned away from Clark to look out of the small window. The stars seemed to glitter that much brighter tonight. Strong arms slipped around Lois' waist and hugged her back.

"Lois…?"

"You were right. You're not my Clark. I never knew how much he was really hiding." Clark's grip naturally tightened on Lois as she spoke. "I thought he was my friend but I… I didn't know him at all."

Clark rested his chin atop Lois' head as he spoke, "But you were… we were close? Just because you didn't know everything about me doesn't mean…"

"Clark, up until two days ago I didn't know you were from another planet." Lois said in a matter of fact tone.

"Up until two days ago I didn't know you were the one."

Lois sighed and turned back, "Okay, Clark. We've been through this…"

Clark took Lois' hand and laid it over her chest, her heart with his hand. The octagonal disc began to glow and throb under the dual attention.

SSS

_Several years in the future…_

Clark stood in front of the mirror, frowning at his reflection. "Blue tie or red tie?" He said to Lois as she passed him to look in one of the drawers.

Looking up, Lois squinted her eyes a little, "Blue. Red doesn't work with that shirt."

"What are you searching for?" Clark asked, as Lois raced past him to the side cabinet

"Nothing," Lois replied as she opened and closed two drawers.

Clark mused quietly, "Lois, you look tense."

"I'm not tense." Lois snapped, "I'm an island. A calm peaceful… what did you do with it?"

Lois rounded on Clark, who smiled innocently, "Do? I don't know what you mean."

"Clark Joseph Kent. What did you do with my ring?!" Lois huffed.

Clark smiled and put his hand in his pocket, "You left it on the side after you potted those crazy plants."

"Those are supposed to be…!" Lois took the platinum ring and wrinkled her nose, "Wait, this isn't my ring."

Clark chuckled, "I had it cleaned. Apparently, it had a lot of old bomb and cement debris on it."

Lois looked at him sceptically, taking a look on the inside of the band, sure enough the engraving Clark had done for their wedding was on there. Lois, my love, my life, my everything.

Clark slipped the ring back to its rightful place. Lois looked down and sighed, making Clark frown. "Lois, you okay?"

"How do you feel about a second honeymoon?" Lois asked as she turned back to the side cabinet, picking up a simple pair of diamond earrings. Hooking them into her ears, Lois stood up and rifled through the cupboard for a pair of shoes.

Clark sighed, "Lois, I just cleaned that. We just had a third honeymoon or was it a fourth?"

"Clark…" Lois smiled, getting up, feet clad in black heels to match her suited work attire. Hugging her husband around the waist with one arm, her fingers laced with his, his wedding band glinting just as brightly as hers.

"You just want to stay in bed and have sex all day, don't you?" Clark smirked as he picked Lois up.

"Mr Kent, I'm shocked. I'm just a wife who wants to spend time with her husband."

"Naked time?"

Lois smiled wickedly, "Why not? I've still got my sailor's hat."

SSS

Lois stumbled back as the disc let go of the grip it was holding on her mind. In this future, possibly her future, she and Clark were married. Happily married, deeply…married.

"That's what you saw. In your dream, it was…" Lois said, breathing deeply and connecting the dots.

"All about you." Clark admitting, "Lois, you were the only thing I saw, the only thing I wanted to see."

"Just…!" Lois let out a harsh breath, "Just…"

"Stop." Clark finished, his hands pulling Lois closer, his lips descending on hers. Lois gave a little gasp when Clark's warm hands touched her back, sliding underneath her shirt. Lois' hands mimicked his sliding up his back to wind around his neck, fingers running through his dark hair.

The stars continued to glitter, the moon bathed sky a blanket over the peaceful world that Lois and Clark created.

SSS

Lois scrunched up her nose as the light from the window hit her face. Clark's arm was slung around her waist, holding her to him, his face a picture of peaceful sleep. Around both of them was the one good blanket in their cell; it was all very intimate.

_What did you just do?_ Lois asked herself. She wasn't ashamed, she felt closer to Clark than anyone and she wouldn't have it any other way. _But you knew the rules, Lane. _

"Lois, I can hear you thinking." Clark mumbled as he rolled on to his back.

"I was just…" Lois spied her jeans in a heap, fairly close, she reached for them, "…wondering how we're going to get out of here."

Clark nodded, "Mm, I had an idea."

"You did?" Lois asked, hopefully.

"I can fly us out of here." Clark said before he turned over again with his back to Lois, snoring lightly.

Lois blinked, "Um, what?"

Clark didn't respond so Lois prodded him, "Clark."

"Clark!"

Clark sat up, his half of the blanket pooling at his waist, Lois gulped. "Last night, after you fell asleep, I was lying here, thinking and then I sort of levitated."

"Levitated?" Lois repeated.

"You're repeating me again, Lo. But yeah, practically hit the ceiling before I noticed."

Lois nodded numbly. "So, flying?"

Smiling, Clark pulled Lois down for a kiss and then looked over her shoulder, "So, who's pants are they? Mine or yours?"

SSS

Fully dressed, Lois tucked her hair behind her ear as Clark tugged on her hand. She wasn't used to this, the couple-y part. _Okay, with Ollie but he was never this…._ Lois looked at Clark, his face a complete expression of what he was feeling _…open._

"So, how do you suppose we fly outta here Genius?" Lois sighed and frowned. Clark smiled knowingly and Lois looked at him, questioningly. Clark scooped Lois up in his arms, an 'oomph' escaping her lips in surprise. "Wait, you're not going through the wall are you? Suddenly, I'm very uncomfortable with this plan."

"No, I'm not going through the wall." Clark laughed.

Lois felt a rush in her stomach before her brain could catch up, the sun was blinding her, after being so long in the dim of their small room. Before the words were even out of her mouth, Clark said, "Super-speed."

Nodding, Lois replied, "Nice."

Clark stopped just before the large fence that had previously kept them in. He looked over both his shoulders before he bent his knees. "Here goes nothing."

"Here goes nothing? Smallville! That's not very reassuring! WHOA!" Lois cried, air suddenly the only thing beneath her. Gripping Clark tightly, Lois watched as they passed through cloud after cloud. "Do you even know where you're going?!"

Clark smiled as the dazzling lights of the Fortress came into view and Lois' stomach filled with dread.

SSS

The landing was bumpy, Clark stumbled a little and Lois had unbalanced him so they fell in a heap by the glittering console. Lois rolled so that she was on top of Clark instead of being squashed by him. He brushed some snow of the end of her nose before they smiled goofily at each other.

_"Kal-El. Lois Lane."_

Clark looked around for the source of the voice much like she had. Lois put her hand on his forearm, a simple gesture but made the world of difference as they made their way to their feet.

"The journey of Kal-El's return has ended."

Lois nodded, Clark frowned, "What do you mean?"

"It's okay, Clark, I knew it was going to happen." Lois told him.

"What was going to happen?" Clark's face grew more and more concerned.

"This was not meant to be, my son. You were never meant to be lost."

"What does that have to do with Lois?!" Clark shouted at the air, but it was futile.

"She brought you home. But it is not yet time for your life together to begin."

Lois looked at the ground, "Clark, I have to forget what happened."

"What? No!" Clark protested.

"It must be done. Much as you may not know your own future."

"What so everything? Everything that…" Clark looked at Lois, passion filling his eyes, passion for the love they had shared.

"No, she will forget, but you will not."

"No. I don't accept that…"

A blinding light over came the Fortress; I am sorry my son, but you don't have a choice.

Chapter 6

Clark's mind was hazy at best and he tried to open his eyes. His memories were a jumbled mess of what he knew them to be and the new ones he had created with Lois. His thoughts couldn't reconcile themselves. The floor of the Fortress under him, Clark turned and saw Lois laying down on the icy floor.

_"Kal-El."_

"Don't." Clark said quietly, turning his back, he lifted Lois up, holding her close as he super-sped back to Smallville.

SSS

When Lois was tucked up safely in Clark's room like she had always been when she lived there. Clark sat in the chair on the opposite side of the room. Lois had said he had changed but he wasn't the only one. Darker hair, warmer smile, Lois was different.

Shelby greeted Clark with a wet lick on his hand, pulling him from his thoughts. Clark was about to pet the dog but he hopped up onto the bed with Lois, curling up against her back, keeping her warm. _And safe, like I didn't do,_ Clark thought immediately.

"Why did you do it Lois?" He asked her sleeping form, "Why did you even start looking for me?"

Clark sighed, getting up, his mind wouldn't rest now. Walking around the farm he grew up on, it seemed like the harder Clark grasped for the future he felt was so right for him, the harder it was to get. Lois had taken care of the farm, he noticed, her things littered obscure corners of the farm. A t-shirt here, a pair of jeans there.

"Still a mess." _And you're not the only one._ Clark needed answers and he knew he wouldn't find them at the bottom of the haystack. But was he ready to face the father that betrayed him?

SSS

As if in understanding, the lights in the Fortress dimmed, Clark blinked and looked at the glowing structure.

"It is connect to you. Connected to the House of El."

"The House of El? The House of El that just tore apart my life?" Clark spat out, his anger barely contained.

"Your anger is understandable. But it is not directed at me."

Clark huffed, "Really? Because I thought you sending Lois on a mission to find me and making her forget might just be your fault!"

"The fault you find is within yourself, my son."

"No." No…Clark let himself deny but in his heart he knew it was true.

"Your selfishness has cost you what you love most."

Clark frowned, "Selfish? I…"

"Denied your destiny. Denied who you must become. It was why only she could help you."

"What are you talking about?" Clark asked, as a bad gust of wind hit his face.

"There are many who love you Kal-El but few better you in the way the Earth woman Lois Lane does. She does not try to change you, hide you or deny you."

The whole time in the camp, Lois had done everything in her power to help Clark, even when he had turned his back in the beginning. But even as everything changed and spiraled out of her control, Lois was still simply there for him.

"The truth is… the truth is I can't -- I can't go back knowing what I've lost." Clark admitted, his heart finally allowing him to feel the extend of his pain.

"But like all things Kal-El, it can be found again."

SSS

Lois was rubbing her hair with a towel when Clark returned. Humming to herself, she was completely unaware of his presence. Looking up, her face was a picture of shock.

"Clark?" Lois asked, as if she couldn't believe her eyes.

"Hey Lois." Clark looked for signs of her memory returning, none so far.

"What…? What happened to you?!" Lois ran up to Clark, hugging him. Clark's arms went around Lois easily, one hand tangling in her wet hair and he breathed her in. She smelt just the same as she had done in their time together. Only now she wasn't his to have.

Lois laughed, "Okay, I'm sure whatever happened to you was very traumatic due to the lack of plaid but I draw the line at you smelling me Smallville."

"Sorry. It's just…" _You smell like home._ Clark smiled and let Lois go, "…been awhile since I saw a face I recognized."

"Really?" Lois nodded and then punched him on the shoulder, "Really!"

"Ow! Lois, that hurts!" Clark shouted as Lois continued to try to pummel him, "Lois!"

"It's been months. Months, Clark!" Lois sighed angrily, "You were missing, Chloe's in prison and Lex's new go to woman is…argh!"

"Chloe's what?" Clark frowned as he tried to back away from Lois, but she still advanced on him.

"Yeah, my cousin, your best friend left to rot in prison because of the stupid DDS!" Lois breathed harshly.

_One problem at a time?_ Clark asked, but doubtful any god could hear him now. "Okay…" Clark turned to leave but Lois grabbed his arm.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going to find Chloe." Clark replied.

Lois shook her head, "No, you're talking a shower, you smell like week old gym socks. Nasty ones."

SSS

Lois was shocked and bemused. Months of searching for Clark and he just turns up. _Like you were expecting anything else_, Lois sighed. It's just what Clark did.

Suddenly turning into someone's den mother, Lois opened the door to the bathroom, Clark's yelp of surprise ignored. "Give me your clothes." Lois said as Clark tried to keep as close to the wall as possible.

"My clothes? What do you want with my clothes?!" Clark squeaked.

"They'll want washing right?" Lois told him as she picked up the rogue pieces of clothing. Turning to leave, Lois let her mouth curve into a smile, "Nice lines, Smallville."

The curtain was frosted, nothing blatant could seen but there was a clear…outline that was Clark. "Lois!"

Ignoring Clark's shout, Lois made her way towards the washing machine, but she stopped. For a moment she could she could smell her perfume -- on Clark's clothes. Lois brought the fabric to under her nose, sniffed and she was right, it was her perfume.

_What the…?_ Lois frowned, turning as she heard Clark's footfalls on the creaky floor boards. Clark looked at her, rather like a deer in headlights. Lois blinked and wondered how long she had been standing there, considering Clark was fully dressed.

"Lois…?" Clark looked at her, then his clothes, a guilty look flashed on his features.

"Any particular reason why your clothes smell like me?" Lois asked, almost conversationally.

"Ah, well, there was a thing and…" Clark stammered.

Lois pursued her lips and then said, "Spit it out Smallville."

"I spilt your perfume bottle, earlier. When I was in my room…with my stuff and…now… your stuff." Clark finished lamely.

"Oh." Lois nodded, putting the shirt and jeans in the machine. "Sounds…like something you'd do."

"You know me." Clark agreed a little to cheerfully.

Lois laughed, "Yeah, unfortunately."

Clark's smile was strained and Lois tilted her head, "Clark, you okay?"

"Just glad to be home is all." Clark lied.

"Yeah…" It was obvious Lois wanted to push for what happened but didn't.

"I ended up in a Russian labor camp digging for god knows what for too many hours but it opened my eyes."

"To what?"

"Me." _You_.

"Manual labor makes Clark Kent find himself?" Lois laughed again as she clicked the button, turning the spin on. The final vestiges of their time together other than Clark's mind washed away. "Sounds like a good story -- feel like telling it?"

Clark smiled, "Oh yeah… but I already did."

"What?! You gave the story to someone else?!" Lois cried incredulously.

"No, I gave it to myself. I'm going for that job at the Planet." Clark said, turning away to look for his car keys.

"You, you are going to work at the Planet?"

Clark nodded, "Yeah, they even gave me the desk across from yours."

"Smallville…" Lois said, exasperated.

"Don't worry Lois, I won't scoop you, I promise." Clark teased and Lois punched him again.

"You know what Kent, let's go save my cousin. So she can tell you how delusional you are." Lois told him seriously before scooping his keys from his hand.

"Lois…"

"Hey, I'm the reporter here Smallville, you're just shrimp bait." Lois smiled as she threw one of Shelby's squeaky toys at him.

"I can live with that." Clark smiled.

SSS

Tucked deep inside the stuffed ball of Lois' dirty clothes to be washed was the octagonal disc. Glowing a bright white, a singular voice could be heard.

_So it begins, as one door closes, another one opens._

**Fin.**


End file.
